No evidence of Trump’s Obama wiretap claim, Republican lawmaker says

USA officials who spoke to the Associated Press, Washington Post and New York Times said Comey’s request followed Trump’s accusation on Twitter Saturday that included a comparison to former President Richard Nixon, who resigned amid scandal in 1974.

For the FBI to be able to use a wiretap on an American citizen, “It would require FBI investigators, officials at the Department of Justice, going to a federal judge and making a case and demonstrating probable cause to use that authority”. That’s because there was and apparently still is a wide-ranging, FBI-led investigation into Trump associates and Russian operatives or banks. Spicer said that “neither the White House nor the President will comment further until such oversight is conducted”. President Trump used that term in a tweet about the scandal, and the Times is now using that to deny the story as a whole.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway also made a TV appearance Monday morning, speaking on “Fox and Friends”, and was asked how Trump knew Obama tapped his phones. And he called Obama a “Bad (or sick) guy”.

He added that Trump’s allegations of wiretapping “demand the thorough and dispassionate attention of serious patriots”.

Then there was the horror-themed, “Trump should know OBAMA NEVER LEFT THE WHITE HOUSE!”

However, reports have surfaced in the New York Times that Trump is none too pleased with Spicer – a claim that lent credence to Spicer’s sudden disappearance. The president often tweets about reports he reads on blogs and conservative-leaning websites. He is the most senior law enforcement official who was kept on the job as the Obama administration gave way to the Trump administration.

And then this: “How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process”.

After publicly calling out the Obama administration on March 4, claiming that Trump Tower had been placed under surveillance before the end of the 2016 election, President Trump doubled down on March 5 and called for an investigation into those claims.

On Saturday, a spokesman for Obama categorically denied that the President “nor any White House official under Obama has ever ordered surveillance on any United States citizen”.

Trump has denied any links to Russian Federation.

Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, said the White House was attempting to deflect focus away from investigations into possible connections between the Trump campaign and Russian Federation.

The president was also said to be angry that Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from any campaign or Russia-related investigations.

Also because a President is supposed to be in a box: He has access to any information the USA government possesses, but he is also supposed to observe classification restrictions.

It’s possible, of course, that as intelligence agencies were investigating Russian interference into last year’s election, they legally sought an order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to monitor calls or a computer server at Trump Tower.

The Associated Press has not confirmed these contacts or an investigation into them.